Early in the morning, Yi Qing was startled by the view outside the window. It had been night when they arrived here yesterday, so she couldn't see the scenery clearly on either side and didn't think much of it. Now, she realized that she was actually on a cliff.
"Awake?" Xiao Jinghan came in from outside.
Although he knew they had to hurry on their journey, he still couldn't resist making Yi Qing suffer a bit.
"Where is this?" Yi Qing stepped back a bit from the window.
"This is a shortcut to Southern Xinjiang. From today on, we'll have to walk there." Xiao Jinghan walked over and took Yi Qing's hand. "Don't worry. I'll carry you."
Yi Qing was amused by Xiao Jinghan. "It sounds as if I can't walk."
In fact, Yi Qing really couldn't walk on her own. There was hardly any proper path here. It was either steep cliffs or mountain streams to cross. Yi Qing, Ghost Lord and the others all needed help to get through.
She felt like she had turned into a monkey.
Ping Xinian woke up at noon the next day. She woke up with her whole body aching and was being half - pressed by someone. She moved a bit and saw Qiao Ye beside her.
"I didn't expect Xinian to be so proactive in bed." Qiao Ye said with an unsatisfied look and was about to start again.
Ping Xinian was stunned for a moment and then remembered what had happened. Instantly, she felt a strong urge to kill Qiao Ye. But soon, that unbearable itch returned.
"You're still shy. I like it." Qiao Ye forcefully pressed on top of her.
The border between Minnan and Southern Xinjiang was a rainforest filled with all kinds of snakes, insects, rats and ants. Ordinary people dared not cross it. Yi Qing had prepared enough insect - repellent powder, but they still encountered two huge pythons. Fortunately, there were enough of them to kill the snakes.
"We're now in Southern Xinjiang. Where do you plan to start?" Xiao Jinghan turned to Yi Qing.
"We need to find the Gu worms in Ghost Lord's body." Yi Qing looked solemn.
"You said the Gu worms were cultivated with the Ruyi Grass. So, if we find the place where the Ruyi Grass is planted, is that okay?" Xiao Jinghan analyzed.
"Planting the Ruyi Grass and cultivating the Gu worms are two different things. We need to find the Ping family's caravan in Southern Xinjiang first."
Only by finding the Ping family's caravan in Southern Xinjiang, seeing who they were in contact with, and then finding the witch doctor through this network of relationships, could they possibly find the place where the Gu worms were bred.
"Then we should go to Qingyao first. Qingyao is the first city when traveling from Minnan to Southern Xinjiang. There must be a Ping family's caravan there." Xiao Jinghan analyzed.
The group changed into Southern Xinjiang clothes and headed for Qingyao together.
Qingyao was a hundred miles or so from Minnan. The small path they took made the distance to Qingyao a bit longer, and the road was not easy to walk on.
Ping Xinian soaked herself in the bathtub. That unbearable itch finally disappeared, but things had completely exceeded her expectations.
Xiao Jinghan and the others had disappeared from her home. Qiao Ye had used this to threaten her. She even suspected it was Qiao Ye's trick. Maybe Qiao Ye had already attacked Xiao Jinghan and wanted to pin this on their Ping family.
Another possibility was that Xiao Jinghan was trying to secretly investigate something in Minnan and didn't want to show up. So he used this way to sow discord between the Ping and Qiao families.
"Miss." Liu'er came in with clothes.
Ping Xinian changed her clothes and touched the ring on her middle finger. She was determined to see who would be the last one laughing.
Yi Qing calculated that the medicine's effect on Ping Xinian should be wearing off. A smile always hung on her lips. No matter how many tricks Ping Xinian had, as long as she was human, there was no way she could avoid problems.
Ghost Lord looked at Yi Qing's expression. "Who is going to be unlucky with that look on your face?"
Yi Qing didn't hide it. "I've collected a little interest for you first."
Ghost Lord thought for a while. "Don't put it so nicely. You and Ping Xinian are like fire and water."
Yi Qing scoffed. "Hey, after your Gu poison is cured, how do you plan to deal with Ping Xinian?"
"At first, I just wanted to kill her. Later, I thought killing her was too easy on her. So I decided to make the Ping family decline and make her live a life worse than death." Ghost Lord threw a small pebble into the fire.
Yi Qing instantly thought that killers were actually more gentle. "Make the Ping family decline? The Ping family is like a thin - dead camel that is still bigger than a horse. How are you going to make them decline?"
"You don't understand. The Ping family is indeed like a thin - dead camel bigger than a horse, but they're standing too high and can't afford to fall." Ghost Lord said proudly.
Yi Qing looked at Ghost Lord's appearance. He really didn't disappoint her.
Xiao Jinghan arranged for the night watch and came over. He saw the two of them chatting and sat down beside Yi Qing, looking at her.
Yi Qing wanted to laugh at Xiao Jinghan's expression. They were already like an old married couple, but he still got jealous for no reason. But how cute he was!
Xiao Jinghan simply pulled Yi Qing into his arms to stop her from smiling so inexplicably.
"Fine! I'll go to sleep." Ghost Lord felt that he was like a torch in the dark night, shining brightly.
Qiao Ye sent more people to look for Xiao Jinghan and the others in Minnan, but Xiao Jinghan seemed to have evaporated into thin air. There was not a single piece of news about them, which made him a bit suspicious of the Ping family.
Their Qiao family had deep roots in Minnan, yet Xiao Jinghan had disappeared so completely right under his nose. This was a bit hard to explain.
"Come here." Qiao Ye called out in a low voice.
"Sir." A guard came in.
"Keep an eye on all the Ping family's shops for me." Qiao Ye ordered.
Now that Ping Xinian was his, she was just a woman. If she dared to play tricks on him, he would teach her a lesson sooner or later.
While they were suspecting each other, Yi Qing, Xiao Jinghan and the others had already arrived in Qingyao.
There were already quite a few people from the Great Jin Dynasty in Qingyao, so their arrival didn't attract much attention.
The group found an inn and sat down. The food here was completely different from that in the Great Jin Dynasty. Everything was cooked together and then served on big banana leaves. People either used spoons or ate with their hands directly.
This was the first time Yi Qing had eaten hand - held rice since she had time - traveled, but she wasn't very interested. She felt that the hygiene conditions were not up to standard.
"Food's here!" The waiter served their dishes.
Yi Qing looked at the rice cooked with meat. "This smell..."
"I've long heard of the colorful rice in Southern Xinjiang. It really lives up to its reputation." Ghost Lord said and started eating first.
Yi Qing didn't eat. "Bring me some white rice and some roasted meat."
"Sure thing!" The waiter immediately went off.
Xiao Jinghan saw that Yi Qing wasn't eating, so he didn't eat either. "Is there something wrong with the smell?"
"Too many spices were used. I'm not quite sure. It's better to be cautious." Yi Qing looked at Ghost Lord eating happily. "We haven't treated you badly on the road. You look so hungry."
Ghost Lord was proud. He was in a good mood. Now that they were in Qingyao, he had already sent people to keep an eye on the Ping family first. It wouldn't be long before the Gu poison in his body could be cured.
Just then, his hand suddenly stopped. He suddenly pressed on his chest and vomited out what he had eaten. "It's poisoned!"
He Tai and the others immediately drew their weapons and protected Xiao Jinghan and the others in the middle.
Xue Miao'er was completely stunned and then tried to vomit out what she had eaten.
In an instant, Ghost Lord was in so much pain that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Yi Qing rushed over in a hurry to give him acupuncture.